Taipei (Taiwan), Nov. 4 : The heads of the two main negotiating bodies of the Chinese mainland and Taiwan sat down together in Taipei on Tuesday morning for their first ever summit in Taiwan.

Chen Yunlin, president of the mainland''s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, and his island counterpart Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation, met at the Grand Hotel in Taipei.

According to Xinhua and the China Daily, Chen thanked his Taiwan compatriots for their understanding and support for the meeting, which he said was a milestone for the positive development of the cross-strait relationship.

Chen said that once progress had been made on direct flights, shipping and postal services between the mainland and Taiwan, the ARATS and SEF would discuss financial cooperation and the normalization of economic ties.

In June, the ARATS and the SEF held talks in Beijing and signed two agreements, almost 10 years after the suspension of talks. (ANI)